Time’s up for the Yes2Rail blog, which I launched on June 30, 2008 as a paid consultant on Honolulu's elevated rail project. Yes2Rail’s August 13, 2012 post was its last following the author's move to Sacramento, CA. You’re invited to read four-plus years of information-packed entries, many of which are linked at our “aggregation site.” Look for the paragraph with red copy in the right-hand column, below. Mahalo for all the positive comments Yes2Rail received since its start.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Yesterday’s criticism of the Honolulu Advertiser’s rail coverage still stands, but today’s editorial goes a long way in restoring our faith in the paper as a valued journalistic voice. Editorials in the Advertiser and the Star-Bulletin have never wavered in supporting Honolulu rail, and today’s editorial adds much-needed perspective on what is shaping up as a City-State confrontation.

Governor Lingle insists on doing a financial review of the project, but as Mayor Hannemann’s press release on GET revenues noted yesterday, the Federal Transit Administration has contracted with independent overseers that have given thumbs up to the City’s financial plan. From the editorial:

“Even someone who gives her credit for doing her due diligence before signing off on the project has got to wonder about this move…. So there’s really no purpose for Lingle’s planned set of public hearings, is there?”

The paper’s answer to that question boils down to one word: politics. “More hearings would provide a forum for critics of rail to hammer the project, as well as its champion, just as Hannemann is campaigning.” The editorial ends: “From the results of the 2008 election, and from every credible poll we’ve seen, the community still supports rail.”

‘This is not Mufi’s train.’

That’s the headline above this morning’s take-out piece by Civll Beat editor John Temple. He and CB’s Honolulu reporter Treena Shapiro visited City Hall two days ago on a rail project fact-finding mission, and Temple’s Internet-length piece tells what they heard. It’s good reading for anyone curious about rail’s status.

Temple’s piece runs nearly 1500 words and has a stream-of-consciousness feel to it that newspaper stories rarely approach. In its first four weeks, Civil Beat’s coverage has looked to us like a stand-in for what the average citizen, if given a chance, might ask newsmakers about the major issues in our state.

The City’s dispute with the governor is discussed, as well it might be since it’s shaping up as the key go-no go issue as the planning process winds down. From Temple’s article:

“’(Governor Lingle) is the accepting authority,’ (Managing Director Kirk) Caldwell says. ‘There’s no requirement that she accept or that she must accept.’ But he then goes on to question why she thinks she needs her own financial analysis, when the state isn’t on the hook for the project and financial analysis is not part of the EIS process.”

Temple writes that Caldwell cites the three separate financial studies already required by the FTA.

“’All three came back and said we were in the ballpark,’ he says. What Lingle should be doing is determining whether the city followed the law and looked at the impacts of the project and addressed them, Caldwell says. Impacts are the issue, not the financial plan. Finances, he says, are not a valid reason for her to reject the project.”

Temple’s piece covers other major issues, including Native Hawaiian concerns for remains that might be encountered in the project’s construction. Near the end, he quotes Caldwell again:

“’This is not Mufi’s train.’ From this discussion, that’s obvious. The people in the room have dedicated countless hours to studying the rail project, to explaining it, to pitching it and to listening to concerns about it. It’s theirs. They own it.

“At the end of our conversation, I can’t say that their plan is the perfect solution. But there’s no doubt as I head out into the now quiet Honolulu Hale that they’re ready to take more slings and arrows, if only they can get construction underway and prove their critics wrong. That, they seem sure, will be certain.”

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This Isn't Political

Yes2Rail is a blog about the Honolulu rail transit project, which has become the key issue in this year’s mayoral race. We comment on the candidates’ plans to address Oahu’s growing congestion problem and whether those plans could meet the need as well as elevated rail can and will. That’s not the same as criticizing the candidates, and we urge our readers to recognize the difference.

Another red-light runner meets Denver at-grade train, 6.13.12

Honolulu rail will be elevated, with zero possibility for accidents like those shown in this column in cities with at-grade systems. Visit our "aggregation site" for much more on why elevated rail is the only reasonable way to build Honolulu rail.

What riding the train will avoid

Bus Accident Aftermath on H-1

'Black Tuesday'--9/5/06 Crash Produced Nightmare Commute

Typical H-1 Traffic

About Me

After five years of active-duty service as an Army officer with duty stations in West Berlin and South Vietnam, reported and edited for newspapers and broadcast stations (including all-news radio) in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Honolulu. Covered Honolulu city government for the Honolulu Advertiser and KGMB-TV. Served on Congressman Cec Heftel's staff in Honolulu and Washington, then managed corporate communications and was Hawaiian Electric Company's spokesman for nearly a decade. A communications consultant for 19 years before moving to California in 2012. Launched, produced and hosted Hawaii Public Radio's "live" weekly "Energy Futures" public affairs program in 2009-10. Authored books on The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ("Punchbowl" 1982) and on the decline of standard grammar in business and society ("Me and Him Are Killing English!" 2007). Now an information officer with the California Department of Water Resources.